This invention relates generally to footwear, and more particularly to attachments in the form of a sandal which is adapted to be worn over other footwear to render it resistant to slippage on ice or snow.
Various ice gripping, sandal-like, attachments for footwear are commercially available and have been disclosed in the patent literature. Examples of such patented devices are found in the following U.S. Patent Nos.: 1,032,600 (Grout); 2,361,972 (Smith); 3,214,850 (McNair); 3,516,181 (Jordan); 4,344,238 (Peyser); 4,353,172 (Bryant); 4,525,939 (McNeil et al.); and 4,910,883 (Zock, Jr.). While the devices disclose in those patents appear generally suitable for their intended purposes, they never the less appear to leave something to be desired from various standpoints, such as simplicity of construction, ease of mounting, removing, and adjusting.
Various sandals with means for enabling the adjustment of their mounting straps have been disclosed in the patent literature, such as the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Des. 131,318 (Levin); 2,801,478 (Gilbert); 4,817,302 (Saltsman); 4,869,000 (York); and 4,920,664 (McGregor et al.). However, none of these sandals discloses a strapping arrangement which could be used with an ice gripping sole to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art ice gripping sandals.
The 32 North Corporation of Kennebunk Maine sells an ice gripping sandal for use on primary footwear under the trademark STABILICERS. That sandal includes a sole which is arranged to be secured to the bottom surface of the sole of a primary boot or shoe by means of two strapping assemblies, namely, a front or toe strapping assembly and a rear or heel strapping assembly. The front assembly comprises a longitudinally extending strap and a transversely extending strap which are releasably secured together by VELCRO fasteners to form a toe box for receiving the toe of the primary footwear therein to hold it in place. The rear assembly comprises a strap arranged to be extended over the instep of the primary footwear from one side of the sole to the other to hold the heel of the sandal's sole onto the heel of the primary footwear.
In order to prevent the toe portion of the sandal from presenting a tripping or snagging hazard the toe portion of the sandal's sole is bent upward. While this arrangement may somewhat lessen the potential for snagging, it still leaves much to be desired from this standpoint. This is particularly true since the toe strapping assembly is not particularly effective for holding the toe portion of the sandal's sole tightly against the toe portion of the primary footwear's sole.
The sole of the sandal has plural, spaced apart, chevron-shaped cleats or treads with screws at each end of each cleat for gripping ice. While the cleats may serve their desired purpose for gripping ice, the sole of the sandal between the cleats appears to be susceptible to clogging by adherent material, e.g., mud.
Thus, a need presently exists for a sandal which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.